The Green Bay Packers have been a very good team stuck behind some elite NFC powerhouses all season. While that will force the Packers on the road, it does mean that Green Bay will still be a playoff team.
After Week 17, what seeds can the Packers still end up with?
What Is the Green Bay Packers’ Current Playoff Picture?
The 11-5 Packers clinched a playoff spot in Week 16 with a shutout win over the New Orleans Saints. After Week 17, they currently sit as the No. 6 seed in the NFC, third in their own division behind the 14-2 Detroit Lions and 14-2 Minnesota Vikings.
The Packers have already been swept by the Lions and Vikings. Green Bay’s other loss was in Week 1 to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil. That means the Packers are 0-5 against the trio of NFC teams with a better record than them this season and 11-0 against all other opponents.
Detroit’s win in Week 16 officially eliminated the Packers from NFC North and No. 1 seed contention.
What Are the Packers’ Possible Seeds?
The Packers can finish at either the No. 6 or No. 7 seed. Below we’ll break down how Green Bay ends up in each of those spots.
The Packers go to the No. 6 seed if Green Bay defeats the Bears in Week 18 and the Commanders lose to the Cowboys.
- GB finishes 1-1 and WAS finishes 1-0-1 or worse
The Packers are tied with the Washington Commanders in terms of record. However, they need to finish with an outright better record because Washington will win the conference-record tiebreaker with them in the event of a tie. The Commanders defeated the Falcons on Sunday Night Football in Week 17.
As such, the Packers would fall to the No. 7 seed under any of the following scenarios:
- GB finishes 1-1 and WAS finishes 2-0
- GB finishes 0-2 and WAS finishes 1-1
Scenario No. 1 would see the Commanders win the conference-record tiebreaker over the Packers at 9-3 vs. 7-5. Similarly, scenario No. 2 would have Washington at an 8-4 vs. 6-6 edge in that tiebreaker.
To simulate all the different scenarios, head over to PFN’s free NFL Playoff Predictor to see how they change the playoff picture and the NFL postseason bracket.